"Westebello"
2009 Archive
Third Annual Western
Canadian Challenger Rendezvous was a great
success!

July 10-12, 2009 at
Wetaskiwin Airport and Reynolds Alberta Museum

Friday

The weather was nice Friday night, but the forecast for Saturday was
not so great. Bryan Quickmire and Brent Thompson were off
early Friday evening enjoying a nearby lake when Kris Falk flew in from Lacombe in his
Challenger, claiming both "first in" and "furthest flown" for the
weekend. The company photographer was busy visiting in the terminal with the many folks who arrived for the Friday night
reception, so we neglected to get any pictures!

Saturday

The weather was kind of crappy on Saturday with low ceilings and
high winds. Hence, we stayed inside for most of the day, which
wasn't much of a problem as we had a full agenda.

Hands-on Rotax Clinic by Bob from Light Engine Services
and ...

... and George from Rotec Canada.

George and the crowd watching Bob intently as he shares his
knowledge.

Bob demonstrates the proper tool for removing the fan on a 503!
He also showed us how to adjust the belt. Those shims are
wonderful!

Theatre room where we delivered tales of Seven League Boots!

Dinner

Dinner and Door Prizes!

The happy group! Congratulations Westebello 2009 Attendees.

A Night At The Museum ... !!

You just never know what you'll see at a Challenger Fly-in!
The Arrow was a MASSIVE airplane. I'll get IROC over beside it
on the air side and get a picture for comparison!

Yep, that's the full-scale mockup from the CBC movie!

Announcing the Governor General's Cup!

... and fun was had by all. If you made it, it was good to see
you again. If you didn't make it, we missed you - try and come
next year. We're going to be working with Transport Canada and
the Airport Manager to orchestrate some flying competitions!

Sunday - Flying day - Demo Flights

Sunday was really windy, but also really sunny and warm!

Hence, Bryan Quickmire (in C-IROC), President
of National Ultralight, Canada's exclusive Challenger distributor,
and Mike (in C-IJBN)
both did demo flights throughout much of the day. The winds
were strong, so we didn't do any water landings as the chop was too
rough.

Bryan loves to fly
people around in Challengers and really enjoyed the change in
scenery from all those boring lakes in Ontario! He and the
passengers all enjoyed Alberta's many Canola fields, which were in
resplendent yellow!

The company photographer was busy at the BBQ, so we're hoping
other attendees who might have taken some pictures might send them
along for this page!

No sooner asked, than received. Philip and Stephanie Gavell from
Newfoundland were out for Westebello and were kind enough to send
several photos they took on Sunday.

An Avro Arrow with a Jelly Bean in the background under the missle doors!(Courtesy P & S Gavell)

The third annual Westebello
was held July 10-12at
Wetaskiwin, Alberta (CEX3), site of the 2005 COPA
Convention. Wetaskiwin offers a great airport, the
Reynolds Alberta Transportation Museum (which is a really awesome "must
see" and includes a
GREAT Aviation museum), hotels close by, a full service and new
campground right across the road, the cheapest AvGas in Alberta, etc.

As always, we had an extremely strong show of support from the Wetaskiwin AirportOperator, and the
Reynolds Alberta Museum.